Moon Knight [2016] #10 - Marvel Comics

MOON KNIGHT No. 10, March 2017

Impressively acquiring an additional four thousand readers in January 2017, quite possibly because of the “Death And Birth starts now!” eye-catching advertisement on its front cover, Issue Ten of “Moon Knight” certainly provided its 33,395-strong audience with an insightful portrayal into Marc Spector’s first meeting with his schizophrenic persona Steven Grant on the streets of Chicago, Illinois. But whilst this touchingly sentimental ‘flashback’ to the crime-fighter’s past proves both highly nostalgic, on account of its frequent references to films such “Star Wars”, “Conan The Barbarian”, “Gremlins” and “Raiders Of The Lost Ark”, as well as disconcertingly sad, when the boy’s dad finds him talking to himself rather than an actual “new friend, Steven”, its narrative doesn’t really take this title’s increasingly bizarre overall storyline much farther forward.

In fact, in many ways this attempt by Jeff Lemire’s to “redefine the history of Moon Knight” by exploring the titular character’s first symptoms of mental illness is rather ponderously paced, and arguably becomes precisely the sort of “pedantic” penmanship the Canadian cartoonist stated he expressly wanted to avoid when “Marvel Worldwide” first announced he was to be the comic’s regular writer. It’s certainly hard for this twenty-page periodical to break any new ground when the ex-mercenary simply re-visits Crawley and Annubis on the Overvoid, and Gena in her diner so he can enjoy “a cup of good hot coffee and pancakes”; even if waitress’ “flapjacks are to die for.”

Disconcertingly, this book’s only saving grace is its outstanding breakdowns by Greg Smallwood and color artist Jordie Bellaire. The creative duo really do create some incredibly captivating panels, whether they be a young Spector simply chalking space werewolves on his local street’s sidewalk, or the boy’s phenomenally detailed bedroom full of period pieces like an A-Team poster, cuddly toy Alf or MASK sideboard stickers. Indeed, what with this magazine’s amazing cliff-hanger splash page depicting Mister Knight facing an insectoid-riding Egyptian warrior, and the super-hero’s dive through the celestial waters of his childhood madness, it is very easy to see why Editor Jake Thomas ‘nearly fell out of his chair’ whenever ‘Greg turned in his sketches’.

Writer: Jeff Lemire, Artist: Greg Smallwood, and Color Artist: Jordie Bellaire